Talking with a student in a new, small rural school that was seeing success, I asked him what it was about his school that made it work for him so far. He thought for a minute before replying, “This school opens doors that we would normally not have open.”
What were his teachers doing, I wondered. They are doing a lot, I heard later but a couple things stood out in their reflection. They are clear about their mission for kids and the unity among the adults to achieve it.
Our mission is to make sure kids feel like they have a place of their own; not leave any behind or out—feel connected and feel they are a part of the school and community. We look at our our identity in this community and what ties us to others in the world and how can we make this better for our children
Kids want to know what’s going on the world, become better leaders, better citizens. They want to make changes. Their education here has to do with how we live.
Our team time helps our team become stronger. Being a small school if one teacher is having problems, we’re all going to discuss, find a solution, stop the negative direction so doesn’t escalate to something bigger, or affect academic. We decide curriculum major events, like trips, fundraising, anything and everything that needs to be discussed to make things better for our students. Everybody knows what is going on
We know student personalities—how we should and shouldn’t approach them. What’s good for them and what’s not
If teachers stay united and connected with same goals, kids pick up on that.
They’ll follow us anywhere. They trust us enough for that.
Photo courtesy of Hawkins-Chernof, Betsy. doorknob1.jpg. 10/6/12. Pics4Learning. 17 Jan 2015 <http://pics.tech4learning.com>